


Saying It First

by indigorose50



Category: LazyTown
Genre: Claustrophobia, Fluff, M/M, Trapped, shippy part comes later, some light cursing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-09-18 01:05:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9357356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indigorose50/pseuds/indigorose50
Summary: Robbie captures Sportacus. And himself.(Or, the 'trapped in a room together' trope)





	1. Pit Trap

**Author's Note:**

> Two things made this happen. One, I plan to write a hell of a lot more this year and that means jumping on whatever inspiration strikes without fear of what others might things. Two, LazyTown has become a happy place for me. I'd like to give back a little.
> 
> Also, it has been about a decade since I've seen a full LazyTown episode. If anything in here goes directly against canon, please let me know. I read the wiki and did some research but I may have missed something.
> 
> Thanks for reading that and this. Enjoy!

Most of the time, Robbie’s plans were so convoluted that Sportacus couldn’t guess what he was up to. Sure the end game was to trick Sportacus and the kids, but the plan itself was normally so over the top that Sportacus couldn’t predict Robbie’s next move.

For several reasons, today’s plan had him more stumped than usual.

Firstly, Robbie had made a pit trap, which Sportacus was now sitting at the bottom of. It was much too deep for him to jump out of, but also surprisingly comfortable. There were thick blankets spread across the floor as well as half a dozen pillows that had cushioned his fall.

Secondly, he and Robbie had been sort-of-friends lately. Robbie’s schemes had not stopped but they were less about capturing or harming Sportacus and more for the kids. This pit trap, friendly as it was, was not in line with Robbie’s recent behavior.

Finally, and most peculiar, Robbie had tripped into the trap with Sportacus.

“So,” Sportacus said slowly after Robbie had stood up, “What’s your plan exactly?”

Robbie glared, apparently feeling that Sportacus was mocking him. Sportacus was just honestly curious but before he could clarify that, Robbie began jumping, reaching for the top of the hole. He had a few inches on Sportacus but ran out of the energy for jumping quickly. He slumped against the opposite side of the pit and crossed his arms.

“Damn.”

“Language, Robbie.”

“The brats aren’t around to hear me.”

“Still, don’t get into the habit.”

“I am trapped at the bottom of my own trap. I think I should be allowed to curse a bit.”

Sportacus put up his hands up in surrender. He looked around them, hoping to find something that could help them get out. The walls were just dirt, no help there. No switch or button or anything. This could take a while.

The hole was not cramped by any means; Sportacus could stand straight up and hold his arms out wide without touching Robbie. Still…

“Robbie, whatever you’re planning, could you maybe move a little faster?” He asked politely.

Robbie huffed, “No, I cannot ‘move a little faster’,” he repeated mockingly, “ _This_ was not part of the plan. There _is_ nowhere to move.”

Sportacus felt his stomach clench, “B-but you have to have some way out of here, right? It’s your trap after all.”

“I didn’t expect to be the one _in it_ , Sportastupid. The lever to get us out is up there.” He pointed, as if there was any other ‘up’ he could be referring to. Robbie really didn’t give Sportacus’ intelligence enough credit. “So until one of your precious fans comes along and pulls it for us, we’re stuck.”

“Oh. Okay,” Sportacus said, more to himself than Robbie, “That’s okay! We can just wait!”

Robbie cocked his head at him, “Yes. I just said that.”

“Okay! No problem at all! It’s absolutely okay!”

“You’ve said it four times so it must be.” The villain stretched, “I think I’ll take a nap.”

“Great idea! I’ll…” Sportacus thought for a moment, “do jumping jacks!”

Robbie groaned but Sportacus ignored him. He started jumping, counting loudly as he went. Robbie shifted closer into his corner as if to escape the noise, but Sportacus kept counting anyway.

Sportacus tried not to think about how the tips of his left hand brushed the dirt wall occasionally. Or how he was getting out of breath faster than normal. Or how stuffy and hot it was becoming.  

Or how the walls were definitely getting closer. Or how he had stopped moving, couldn’t get air, couldn’t get _help_ , couldn’t _scream_ for help if he wanted to _,_ and it wa _s so cramped in here and the walls were squeezing him too tightly and he couldn’t move why couldn’t he move-_

“Sportacus!”

Sportacus snapped back to himself. He was sitting on the blanketed floor. His back was against the wall and he was curled in on himself. Something was wrapped around him, something too close.

“Let go, _let go!_ ” he demanded once he realized what it was. Immediately, Robbie released him, scooting around to face Sportacus. Sportacus unfurled and flexed his joints before he wrapped his arms around himself. He looked around them. The hole was the same size it had been.

“Sportacus?”

After a moment, Sportacus mustered the focus to meet Robbie’s gaze. The other man was staring at him with open concern, cross legged in front of him.

“Sorry, Robbie,” Sportacus said shakily, “I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

“Whatever, how could I _not_ know you were claustrophobic?!”  Robbie sounded offended, for some reason, but still looked worried, “All those schemes and plots and I never figured this out?!”

Sportacus actually found it in him to smile, “Well, I was never captured long enough for it to really affect me. And I always knew you’d let me out.”

“Still…”

“Would you have used it against me if you had known?”

“Of course not!”

Sportacus raised an eyebrow.

“…Okay in the _beginning_ I would have. But not _now_!”

“Speaking of which, I meant to asked earlier,” Sportacus said, “Why the trap? You haven’t tried to catch me in a long while. I thought we…”

He didn’t want to say “I thought we were becoming friends” because it was possible Robbie did not see it that way. Sportacus might be reading him wrong and there was some other reason Robbie’s tricks had been mostly harmless recently.

Robbie’s face and body closed up at the question. He looked away and crossed his arms over his chest again, “There’s a slim chance my plan could still work so I’m not telling you.”

It was silent after that. Robbie didn’t offer up any information and Sportacus tried to keep his eyes on the blue sky above them and not think about his surroundings.

Anxiety swelled in his gut again and he rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands, “I think talking helped, Robbie.” Even to his own ears he sounded tense.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah,” The other man thought for moment, “Well, um, I guess… er…”

Sportacus watched as Robbie got up and started pacing. Sometimes he would glance at Sportacus before muttering and shaking his head.

“Robbie?”

“I’m _thinking_.”

“Of what to talk about?”

“ _Yes_!” Robbie cried in exasperation, “I’m a worse friend than I thought if I can’t come up with something to say to you besides insults!”

Sportacus blinked up at him. Robbie froze mid step, then he coughed and turned away. He missed the huge grin that took over Sportacus’ face. Sportacus jumped to his feet, “You’re not a bad friend, Robbie!”

“He says, standing at the bottom of a trap I laid out for him.”

“Well, I’m sure you have a good reason this time.”

Robbie rubbed his hands together nervously, looking everywhere but at Sportacus. Finally he threw his hands in the air, “Alright, fuck it—”

“ _Robbie!”_

“Oh _stuff it_ , Sportakook! We’re _alone_ , I can use adult words if I like!” Robbie said, pouting, “And if you really want to know why I wanted to capture you again, I… had a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?”

“Just for you, not the children, so I had to get you on your own. I was going to catch you in this hole and make you think I was going back to my old ways. Then I would pull the lever and you’re come back up and—” Robbie paused.

Sportacus didn’t want to pressure Robbie into talking but now he was curious. What was Robbie so nervous about?

“I have… a dessert waiting for you,” he finally said.

“Robbie, you know I can’t—”

“ _Of course_ I do! Better than anyone! But I did a lot of research and tried a lot of recipes and I made you a sugarless lemon cake that doesn’t taste like dirt.”

He said the last sentence very quickly and it took Sportacus a few moments to understand it.

“You went through all that trouble to make _me_ something?” He clarified.

Robbie shifted his feet, “It’s sweet, but not sugary, so you can actually enjoy a dessert without having a meltdown. You’re going to have to build up a tolerance to that someday by the way. You may face someone worse than me at some point and if they use sugar against you, you’ll be screwed.”

It was obvious that Robbie was trying to change the subject to avoid what he thought was embarrassing but Sportacus wasn’t about to let that happen. He even let he swear go without comment. Sportacus stood up and clapped Robbie on the shoulder, making the man jump.

“That was very considerate of you, Robbie. I cannot wait to have some. I know you bake a lot and I’ve always wanted to try something of yours,” Sportacus admitted with a smile.

Color rushed into Robbie’s face. He opened and closed his mouth a few times. Then he lifted a hand but seemed unsure what to do with it. He settled for patting the hand on his shoulder.

“I never knew that,” he said finally, “I thought you hated all my cakes and cookies.”

“They are always pleasant to look at, even if I can’t have them. And you clearly spend a lot of time on them. I would love a chance to share in something you clearly like doing.”

At that, Robbie’s cheeks flushed a darker red. His hand had stilled on top of Sportacus’.

“HEY!”

Both men jumped when a familiar voice called down to them. The two of them let their hands fall and looked up to the mouth of the hole. Waving energetically down at them was Stephanie.

“Hey!” Sportacus yelled back, returning her wave.

“It’s about time, Pinky!” Robbie yelled instead, “Exactly _where_ have you been?!”

“I was at my house waiting for Sportacus. I wanted to show him my new dance routine.”

“Sorry, Stephanie.”

“It’s not your fault,” She said, looking pointedly down at Robbie.

“It’s not _my_ fault either!” he defended, “Well, okay, it’s a little my fault. Maybe. Do you want to _point fingers_ or actually be _useful_?” he finally snapped.

Stephanie giggled, “What do you need me to do?”

“Pull the lever next to you.”

“The one with the red handle?”

“There is _literally_ only one lever up there.”

“I’m just making sure.”

Robbie rolled his eyes. Stephanie moved away from the hole and Sportacus lost sight of her. There was a _clink_ and the floor began to shake.

For a brief second of panic, Sportacus was _sure_ the walls were finally caving in around them. Robbie must have seen something in his face because he suddenly took Sportacus’ hand and squeezed hard. With great relief, Sportacus squeezed back.

“You’re fine,” Robbie stated firmly. Gradually, the floor started to move upwards, not unlike an elevator. Apparently the bottom of the hole had really been a metal platform that now rose, carrying them towards the opening.

“Is that why you have all these blankets and pillows?” Sportacus asked.

“I wanted to surprise you, not kill you.”

“A fall like that wouldn’t kill me.”

“It was also so we could just sit here and eat after I brought you up.” 

Sportacus smirked, “You really did think of everything.”

“Except for tripping into the hole. That I didn’t prepare for in the slightest.”

“Well under normal circumstances I think your plan would have been flawless.”

“ _Of course_ it would have!” Robbie said with bravado. Sportacus’ smirk turned into a full on smile.

They reached the top. Stephanie stared openly at their joined hands, but Robbie didn’t let go so neither did Sportacus.

“Thank you for your help, Stephanie! Why don’t I come by later this evening?” Sportacus suggested, “Robbie and I have some unfinished business to take care of first.”

The girl looked unsure but said, “Um, okay. See you then, Sportacus!” and ran off. Sportacus, and Robbie, surprisingly, waved goodbye. 

As soon as she was out of sight, Sportacus slipped out of Robbie’s loose grasp. He did a cartwheel into a backflip, stood on his hands and stretched his feet towards the sky, then let himself fall onto his back, lying spread eagle on the grass with a sigh. No more walls; just open air and space. Endless space to move around in. He sat up and noticed Robbie watching him.

“Thank you,” he said, at the same moment Robbie said, “Sorry.”

Sportacus stood up to look at Robbie properly, “For what?”

“Let’s see; tricking you, trapping you, getting you stuck, and, let’s not forget, _triggering a panic attack_.”

“But those last two were by accident.”

“Yes but I’m still— sorry.”

“It’s okay, really. I was actually thanking you for seeing me through that.”

Robbie scoffed, “Well when you voluntarily _stop_ exercising to _sit down_ for a change, someone has to step up and fix you. Not that I had any idea what I was doing. Promise you’ll never do that in my presence again.”  

If it was hard for Robbie to apologize to people, he seemed to have an even tougher time accepting thanks for a genuinely good deed. Sportacus hid a smile to save the man’s pride as he walked the short distance back to him.

“Should I make you a list of the rest of my phobias so you know what to avoid from now on?”

“Fantastic idea, give your archenemy a list of your greatest fears. How could that backfire.”

“Robbie, you are about to let me try a handmade lemon cake you baked with me in mind,” Sportacus couldn’t help but point out, “I think we left the label ‘archenemies’ behind a long time ago. If I recall correctly,” he went on, putting on a show of tapping his chin thoughtfully, “you’re the one that said ‘friend’ first.”

“ _Regardless_ ,” Robbie said quickly, his face changing color again, “it’s never a good idea to write that sort of thing down.”

“Then maybe I’ll _tell_ you instead. Over some sugar-free cake?”

That got a smirk out of the taller man, “Well if you insist.”


	2. Stephanie's Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Kids take matters into their own hands, Sportacus lies, and Robbie has to be The Brave One.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The shippy conclusion. 
> 
> Not marking this as finished yet because I may do one more ;)
> 
> Also, thank you to everyone who comment on the first chapter! This one's for all of you!!
> 
> ((EDIT: Thank you to RoxyWolf who pointed out the errors in this chapter and last chapter! You're such a sweetheart!!! <3)

Robbie glared at the door, offended greatly that he was being made to stand upright at such an hour. Maybe 11am wasn’t so early to the tiny monsters and their jumpy blue leader, but it _was_ early for _him_. And the _pink_ monster should know better than to ask him over before noon. Nothing was physically _making him_ honor her request but he had been so taken aback when she had asked him to come over yesterday that he’d said yes before asking what time. Or why she wanted him in the first place.

In front of him was the pink brat’s front door. _Stephanie,_ he reminded himself reluctantly, _I’m about to enter her home, I should use her name._ He raised his hand in a fist, mentally preparing himself for an exaggerated ‘Robbie Rotten!’, and knocked.

Instead, when Stephanie opened the door, all he got was a “You made it! Come in!”

A nice change of pace, even if it did throw him off a step, “Er, thank you.” He ducked inside, closing the door behind him. “Now what did you—”

“Shh!” She took one of his hands in two of hers and started pulling him down a hallway to the right, “I want to show you something!”

The exclamation points were getting very old very fast and Robbie was tempted to rip his hand from hers and demand answers.

“It’s just in here,” she said. They had stopped in front of a pink door he assumed led to her bedroom. Robbie’s mind spun with ideas of what could be hiding in there. The first few scenarios were that she was tricking him in some way; perhaps there was a mountain of ‘sports candy’ she was going to force him to eat it, or maybe one of her friends was waiting to peg him with a basketball.

He shook his head to stop himself from over analyzing further. _He_ was the villain. She was what, 8? 10? It wasn’t her style to pull anything truly devious. It was safe to play along with whatever it was she wanted to show him.

She opened the door and apparently no, no it was not safe.

Sitting on a disgustingly pink bed in an insulting pink room, was a surprised Sportacus.

Robbie felt pressure at the small of his back and stumbled forward into the bedroom. He immediately turned to leave and was intercepted by a pink door slamming in his face. If he hadn’t hated pink before, this situation was certainly going to close the deal.

Spinning back around, he saw Sportacus had leapt from the bed and was now fiddling with the window on the other side of the room. He seemed to be having trouble getting it open. And if _Sportacus_ was having trouble, Robbie didn’t want to waste his own strength. Instead he tried to open the door. Something was keeping it shut tight.

“ _BRAT_!” He barked, slamming a hand against the door, “What are you doing?!”  

“You two need to talk!” came the slightly muffled reply.

“You have been avoiding each other for weeks,” Added a different voice.

“ _Talk_ to each other or neither of you are leaving that room!” A third said.

Fuming, Robbie tossed a look over his shoulder to Sportacus, who had abandoned the window and was watching to exchange, “All those things you teach them and you couldn’t squeeze in a lesson about _minding their own business_?”

Sportacus stepped forward and called through the door, “Stephanie, I know you and the others mean well but you can’t keep us locked up in here.”

“Sure we can!” That definitely sounded like the dark haired girl, “I superglued the window!”

“And _I_ blocked the door!” Stephanie added.

“That was my idea.”

“No it wasn’t, Stingy!”

“And we’re gonna go outside and play ‘til lunch! So you can’t trick us into opening the door!” another child said. That one sounded like the short one with the cape.

“I don’t need _tricks_ when I have _threats_ ,” Robbie taunted, “Open this door or I’m going to rip every bit of clothing in here!”

“Sportacus won’t let you.”

Robbie turned to Sportacus.

“No,” Sportacus said flatly.

“Well we have to do _something_. We can’t just _let_ them do this to us. And don’t pretend you want to be here anymore than I do,” he added when Sportacus opened his mouth again, “I saw how fast you went for that window.”

Speaking of which, he now noticed movement on the other side of the window. Apparently the children had already left and were off running to the park.

“Fuck.”

“ _Robbie!_ ”

“I bet you’re deadly with a bar of soap. They’re _outside_ , I think we’re safe,” He pointed so Sportacus would notice too, “Besides, they apparently _want_ us to talk. Swear words count as talking.”

Instead of answering, Sportacus sat back down on the bed, leaving enough room so someone could sit next to him. He looked like he actually, honestly, _wanted_ to talk.

Which— nope, no way, not happening.

“I didn’t mean I was in favor of it,” Robbie clarified, “We could always _pretend_ we talked.”

“And have them do this again in a few days when they realize nothing’s changed?”

“I don’t plan to give them the chance. In fact, I plan to spend the foreseeable future in bed just in case.”

Sportacus frowned and Robbie sensed an inactivity lecture coming on.

“Not literally,” he clarified. He sighed and leaned back against the door, staring out the window.

It was true that he had been avoiding prolonged contact with Sportacus lately. Ever since the Lemon Cake Incident, as he had been calling it, certain thoughts had been entering his skull and refusing to leave. Sometimes he would be in disguise, fooling the kids into a different, quieter game, and Sportacus would clap him on the back and lean in to whisper “Thanks for this, they’re having so much fun” or “The costume looks great”. Every time, Robbie’s mental stash of snappy comebacks would short circuit and his mouth would be left to mumble something long enough to step away from the elf. He had stopped questioning how Sportacus always seemed to know it was him.

Those times weren’t as scary as when Robbie would be lounging on a park bench and Sportacus would _stop moving_ (actually _stop_ , not stop and do a handstand or jog in place) and sit beside him to ask how he was. In those moments, his better judgement would fly off to parts unknown and he would actually _converse_ with the elf.

Two weeks ago, however, Robbie had decided Sportacus was too much of a distraction. He occupied Robbie’s waking hours and plagued his attempts to sleep.

For reasons Robbie was incapable of acknowledging without screaming into his recliner.

It turned out he had good timing; the very day he resolved to not speak to Sportacus any more than he had to, the elf seemed to decide something similar. Sportacus stopped whispering to him behind the kids’ backs. He would only wave to Robbie as he jogged by the park. He was keeping his distance.

Today being the exception.

“We should at least _try_ to talk. For their sake.” Sportacus waved vaguely at the window, “Obviously something we’re doing is bothering them.”

“ _Gosh_ I wonder what it feels like to be bothered.”

“Robbie—”

“Can you _drop_ the good guy act for _one_ conversation? You don’t want to talk any more than I do so stop trying to be the bigger man here.”

“But I think they’re right.” Sportacus was resting his arms on his knees, his hands folded, eyes on the ground, “Whatever is— _going on_ between us, maybe talking would help. I see now how immature I’ve been acting.”

The defeated look on the hero’s face reminded Robbie too much of how Sportacus had acted in the pitfall trap.

“Oh _fine_ ,” he said, “It’s not like it’s going to change anything anyway.”

He pushed off the door and took a seat on the floor across from Sportacus, pointedly ignoring the space on the bed. Sportacus slid off the bed to sit on the floor, eye level with Robbie.

There was silence.

“So,” Sportacus began.

“So,” Robbie agreed.

Sportacus rubbed the back of his neck, “So, um, who should start?”

“I’m voting for you.”

“Okay then,” Sportacus cleared his throat. Good lord he was actually going to do it, “I have been actively avoiding you lately.”

“I know. Thank you.”

“I—why are you thanking me?”

“You avoiding me makes it a lot easier for me to avoid you.”

Sportacus frowned again, “And why are _you_ avoiding _me_?”

“I thought we decided you were going first.”

“Robbie, _please_ ,” Sportacus let his head fall into his hands and he rubbed at his eyes. Robbie was again reminded of the pitfall trap. Clearly Sportacus was reaching the end of his patience, which Robbie had not thought possible. “This can’t be one sided, this has to be a _conversation_. I need you to… _give_ a little if we’re going to fix this.”

Against his better judgment, Robbie scoffed, “And what makes you think I _want_ to fix this?”

“Maybe _I_ want to!” Sportacus yelled, actually _yelled_. He jumped to his feet and Robbie nearly had a heart attack at the sudden movement, “Maybe I _want_ to talk to you, maybe I _miss_ talking to you and I didn’t realize that until I saw you in here. Maybe ignoring you isn’t working at all.”

Now Sportacus moved his gaze to the window beside them. His hands at his sides kept flexing into fists. Robbie desperately wanted to ask Sportacus to clarify that last sentence but he was afraid the elf would snap at him again.

Slowly, Robbie stood. Sportacus turned back to him. Robbie took in his narrowed eyes and set jaw. Sportacus was being serious.

“I don’t have a lot of friends,” Robbie began after a beat. Understatement of the year but moving on, “so I don’t know what’s normal and what’s not. I don’t know what _you_ expect of friendship and I don’t want you to think I’m—”

_Weird, clingy, too much, stupid, possibly falling for you_ -

“…well anyway, I backed off because I thought it would be best. Evidently so did you.” It wasn’t the whole truth but Robbie would rather have his eyes replaced with sports candy than go further than that at the moment.  

Much of the pent up emotion in Sportacus seem to leave him and his face fell into an almost pitying frown, “Robbie, I don’t think you’re— I don’t want you to be anything but _you_. That’s what friendship _is_ , it’s being yourself. I’m so sorry I—” he gulped and his eyes, to Robbie’s _horror_ , started looking watery, “I really messed this up. I wasn’t pushing you away because of anything _you_ did.”

“Then why did you do it at all?”

“For reasons similar to yours, I guess. We had only really started being friends but whenever I was around you I wanted… more,” Sportacus looked away at this statement and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. Good _God_ was his face pink or was all the pink around them skewing Robbie’s vision? 

Sportacus went on, “I didn’t want to freak you out and scare you away for good so I thought if I gave you a bit of space, there was less of a chance I would do something to ruin what we have. It really was a stupid thing to do. Especially if all it did was give you the impression I didn’t want to be friends at all.”

“Well I did the same thing so I guess stupid minds think alike.”

That earned him a small chuckle and Robbie suppressed a smirk. His mind was still stuck on a crucial bit of information, “When you say you wanted ‘more’, do you mean, like…”

Sportacus’ eyes snapped back to his, expression hopeful.

“Do you mean _best_ friends? Or something?”

A strange thing happened to Sportacus’ face. At first, he didn’t move, as if he hadn’t heard Robbie. Then he blinked rapidly and a grin appeared on his face, “Yes!” He said excitedly. Almost _too_ excitedly, even for an elf, “That is _exactly_ what I mean! Would that be too much for you? Would you want to be best friends, Robbie?” Sportacus took a step closer and raised his hand like he was going to put it on Robbie’s shoulder again.

Instead, Robbie caught him by the wrist, “No,” He said, half to himself, “No, that was too easy, what are you hiding?”

“Hiding? What do you mean?” But Sportacus’ smile was too wide, his tone too casual.

“You’re lying.”

“Me? Lying?”

“Stop doing that.”

“Robbie, I’m not—”

“You _are_ ,” he tightened his grasp. He couldn’t ( _wouldn’t_ , at this stage) hurt Sportacus but it got his point across, “And after I bared my _innermost thoughts_ to you—”

“ _You_ weren’t telling the whole truth either!” Sportacus shot back, his eyes hardening into a glare again, “Don’t think I missed _that_. I just didn’t call you out on it because I know how hard it must have been for you!”

“Maybe you _should_ have called me out!” Robbie almost shouted, “Because if I know _anything_ about friendship, I know it requires honesty. And if you’re too much of a coward to tell the truth, I guess _I’ll_ go first this time.” He gave Sportacus a second to deny it, but it looked like Robbie really would have to be the brave one for once.

Because Robbie _liked_ talking to Sportacus, _liked_ asking the elf about his day and having someone to explain his inventions to. He liked making Sportacus laugh, giggle, smile, _happy_. He liked modifying recipes to be sugarless so Sportacus could join him for dessert once in a while. Sportacus was patient and supportive and claustrophobic and stubborn and bouncy and had been at the front of Robbie’s thoughts for _months_. 

And maybe, just maybe, he was worth the risk.

“I want to be more than just friends with you,” Robbie said in a rush, voice shaky, “I didn’t want to act weird and scare you away either, but I didn’t know if you would want to go from friends to… to…” He shut his eyes and loosed his grip, letting Sportacus’ wrist go so he could slide his hand down.

And lace their fingers together.

“That,” he said, “I want to be that.”

For a moment, nothing happened. Neither of them moved. Robbie wasn’t even 100% sure he was _breathing_. Sportacus had to know what Robbie meant, right? No one could be _that_ dense, right? He was scared to open his eyes, even though a part of him knew he could answer those questions by reading the elf’s face.

“Robbie,” Sportacus began softly, “Robbie, look at me.” Robbie did, meeting Sportacus’ gaze. The elf’s smile was small, but genuine. He brought their linked hands up, squeezing firmly, “I would _love_ to be this with you.”

A warm, fluttery feeling took hold of Robbie and he felt is face morph into a matching grin. He squeezed Sportacus’ hand in return, “G-good!” He said, casting his mind around for the right words and failing miserably, “Thank you. I mean—”

“It’s okay,” Sportacus said. His face was definitely pink, Robbie could tell now, “This is new to me too.”

“Just to be clear,” Robbie said, still mentally flailing, “this is what _you_ meant, right? When you said you wanted more than friendship?”

He could tell the elf was holding back laughter and honestly, Robbie couldn’t blame him. “Yes, Robbie. This is _exactly_ what I wanted. Thank you for being braver than I.”

Robbie let out a huff of laughter, willing his hand to stop trembling. It was hitting him that this was real, this was happening. “I should be brave more often if this is the result.”

“May I try being brave now?”

“You’re brave every other day of the week. You can sit this one out if you want.”

“But I’ve never been _this_ kind of brave.” Sportacus leaned down and pressed a kiss to the back of Robbie’s hand. Electricity seemed to shoot through Robbie, starting from the contact and sparking up to redden his cheeks. Sportacus smiled nervously up at him, “Unless I’m moving too fast for you.”

“For the first time, no. Feel free to do what whenever you want.”

“You sure?”

“Fuck yeah.”

Robbie waited for the inevitable scolding but strangely, all Sportacus did was laugh.

As mesmerizing a picture as a happy elf made, Robbie was distracted when he caught movement out of the corner of his eyes. He turned his head and saw five faces peering in at them through the window. Ziggy, Trixie, and Stingy all had their noses pressed against the glass. Behind them stood Pixel and Stephanie. All of them were smiling. They didn’t seem to mind that they had been caught. Ziggy even waved.

“I think you can let us out now, kids,” Sportacus called though the glass, having followed Robbie’s line of sight.

There were several cheers and then the kids were gone, running out of sight.

“Do you think they heard me?”

“I really, _really_ hope not.” Sportacus abruptly released Robbie’s hand. Before the villain could properly panic about this, Sportacus reached around and grabbed his other hand, pulling him towards the door. “Ready?”

Robbie grinned and squeezed the elf’s hand in response.

Soon, a gaggle of children would fling open the door. Stephanie would cry, “I knew it! I knew it!” over the rest of the kid’s questions. Sportacus would artfully dodge most of them and make his way through the door, telling them all to eat a healthy lunch. He would look at Robbie and smile and Robbie would do another brave thing and kiss his pink cheek.

And they would take a walk through the park, hands still tightly clasped.

(Later, home alone after an eventful day, Robbie would smoosh his face into his chair and giggle gleefully like an idiot and decide that pink wasn’t such a bad color after all.)


	3. Igloo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sportacus decides its his turn to trap someone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are at the end! Thank you all so much for reading this story. All your kind comments make my day! This may be the end of this story but I have more Lazy Town ideas up my sleeve so keep an eye out ;) 
> 
> Love you all. See you around!

Sportacus and the kids stepped back to admire their newest snow creation.

“It looks amazing, you guys,” Sportacus said with pride, “You did a great job with those blueprints, Pixel!”

“Thanks!” Pixel said, grinning.

“Are you all clear on the plan?” Five cheers were his response, “Alright then. We have five minutes. Everyone to your stations!”

* * *

 

It was the thickest snowfall Lazy Town had experienced in a number of years. The snow had begun yesterday afternoon and had only just stopped early in the morning. Now, in the late afternoon sunshine, Robbie Rotten opened the hatch to his home and looked out. There had to be at least a foot of snow out there. The grey clouds that had covered the sky most of yesterday were gone, though the air was still cold. Robbie thought longingly of his warm armchair bellow him but climbed out of the hatch anyway. He had promised Sportacus he would meet him in front of town hall.

Stuffing his gloved hands into his jacket pockets, Robbie started forward into the snow. There wasn’t much that would get him to leave home on a day like this. Normally he would curl up with a mug of hot chocolate and relax. But Sportacus had almost begged him to come out and, well, how could someone say no to a pair of bright blue puppy dog eyes? Especial when the owner of said eyes could twitch his mustache in a way that made Robbie laugh every time.

Robbie snorted, shaking his head with a grin. This time last year he wouldn’t have said yes. He would have taunted Sportadork and stubbornly remained at home. But nowadays, he didn’t see the harm in coming out to play with the kids a few times a week. Some of the best times he and Sportacus had had together since they became… _they_ had been teaching the kids new things. Robbie still dressed up sometimes to give the kids new ideas on how to play together, or just to see how long it took before his over-the-top acting inevitably made Sportacus crack up.

Granted, the past few months hadn’t been _perfect_ ; the kids could still be too loud, Robbie still ate too much junk food for Sportacus’ taste, Sportacus still ate too much sports candy—

_“FRUITS AND VEGETABLES!” Robbie had cried once, “Say it with me! Fruits! And! Vegetables!”_

_“I know what they are, Robbie! But the kids will like them better if they think of them as candy!”_

_“But you don’t have to call them that when we’re alone!”_

_“I need to keep it a habit or I’ll slip up in front of them!”_

_“Oh for FUCK’S SAKE-- Don’t roll your eyes at me!”_

— but honestly, Robbie would have been a nervous wreck if everything had gone _too_ smoothly. He would have been endlessly waiting for the other shoe to drop. The way things were now, there were just enough disruptions in their harmony to set him at ease.

Robbie had been so lost in thought he hadn’t noticed how close he was to town hall. It was already apparent why Sportacus wanted to meet here.

On the lawn outside the hall was a fairly large igloo. It was wonderfully crafted; all the bricks of snow were layered evenly in a dome shape with a small opening at the top. The entrance was small, Robbie would have to crawl in, but it appeared structurally sound. He felt like kicking it like you would a car tire, just to see how sturdy it was, but he resisted. Didn’t want a crying child on his hands should he knock the whole thing down. Crying children were the Absolute Worst.

“Sportsnow?” He called at the igloo, “Are you hiding in there? Because hiding is _my_ thing and you can’t steal it from me.”

How did the kids and Sportacus build this so silently? He walked around the igloo, making sure no children were about to jump out and pelt him with snowballs. When he was reasonably sure he was safe, Robbie ducked down and peeked into the igloo. The opening wasn’t big enough to give him a good view but he could make out a pair of blue snow boots.

He smirked, “ _Golly_ , whatever could be waiting inside?” he said, voice dripping with sarcasm. He heard a chuckle from inside. Robbie snorted and began crawling through the short tunnel.

Sure enough, there was Sportacus, sitting on the snowy floor with his back against the far wall. He was smiling up at Robbie, “Glad you could make it.”

Robbie put a hand to his forehead and continued speaking dramatically, “ _Good sir_ , am I meant to _rescue_ you from your ice prison?”

“I think the rescuing can wait,” said the elf, much to Robbie’s confusion. Sportacus leaned to one side and called to the exit behind Robbie, “Okay, everyone! Go!”

There was a lot of noise behind Robbie suddenly, and he spun around. Several hands appeared to be stacking snow to block the way out. “Hey!” He knelt down again to crawl out but he wasn’t fast enough. In place of an entrance was now a solid wall of snow. Giggles could be heard from the other side, as well as the crunch of snow as small feet retreated.

“Don’t get mad,” Sportacus said behind him, “It was my idea.”

The igloo was high enough that Robbie only had to stoop slightly when standing. He did so now as he turned back to face Sportrap, hands on his hips, “Getting us stuck in here? _That_ was your idea?”

“I figured it was my turn to capture someone,” Sportacus said brightly. While he certainly wasn’t wrong, Robbie was a little unnerved that he thought holding someone against their will was something to be done in turns. “And it’s just snow, it’s not like we couldn’t get out if we needed to.”

“That’s true…” Robbie was still waiting for an explanation but it seemed Sportacus was taking his time on that. He patted the ground next to him and, with a resigned sigh, Robbie sat beside him against the snow wall. It was then he noticed the two thermoses next to Sportacus. One blue and one purple. He also noticed how calm Sportacus seemed. Usually, even when he was sitting still, the elf was moving in some way. His leg would shake or he would drum his fingers against his arm.

Before he could ask, Sportacus held up the thermoses and spoke, “I have a surprise for you. Do you know what day it is?”

A spike of fear ran through Robbie and he turned the date over in his head. Was is Sportacus’ birthday? No they had celebrated that in the summer. Robbie’s birthday?  No that wasn’t for a few months. It couldn’t be their one year anniversary because Stephanie and Trixie had marked that day on his calendar in glitter pen with lots of arrows and hearts.

“If it’s National ‘Trap Your Romantic Partner In An Igloo’ day, you can’t get mad at me for not knowing,” He finally said.

Sportacus laughed, “Good try but no. It’s our 6-month anniversary.”

Oh no, was that something couples usually celebrated? Was he horrible for not realizing?!

Robbie must have looked as horrified as he felt because the elf quickly went on, “I didn’t expect you to remember! I know it’s not a big deal to a lot of people. But you’re my first, well, _everything_ , so I wanted to do something special.”

“Like trapping us in an igloo.”

“Well I didn’t think of that until last night.”

Robbie chuckled and shook his head, “You’re cute when you try and plan nefarious schemes.”

Sportacus turned pink, which Robbie had been aiming for. The elf cleared his throat, “A-anyway, I made you something.” He handed Robbie the purple thermos.

Robbie took it. He opened the top and sniffed the contents. “Hot chocolate?”

“Pixel looked up a recipe for the ‘Ultimate Hot Chocolate’. I made it last week for the kids to test and they swore you would like it. I hope they’re right.”

“You made this?”

“Yup!”

“You handled sugar just for me?” Robbie frowned, “Unless this is some healthy version or something.”

“No, that’s in here.” Sportacus held up the blue thermos.

Touched that the elf would risk cooking with sugar just to make him happy, Robbie took a small sip. ‘Ultimate’ was right. It was sweet, rich, and chocolaty. He took another mouthful and groaned.

“This is delicious!”

* * *

 

A breath of relief exited Sportacus when Robbie tried the hot chocolate. He had made it sound like no big deal but honestly, he had made the recipe four times before the children declared it perfect. It was so full of sugar and chocolate that Sportacus had been reluctant to even give it to Robbie at first. But Robbie had made him sugarless cake back when they were still just friends. _Robbie_ , who went usually went _pale_ at the word ‘sugarless’. If he could do something like that, so could Sportacus.

Smiling at his success, Sportacus unscrewed the top of his own thermos and took a sip. Wonderful, sugarless cocoa.

“So,” began Robbie after a moment.

“So,” Sportacus agreed. Robbie elbowed him.

“So this is your plan? Literally chill in an igloo and drink hot chocolate?”

“Well I was trying to think of a place we would both be comfortable relaxing. Just the two of us.”

That had been a problem they discovered early in their relationship. The bunker Robbie called home was too stuffy for Sportacus. He couldn’t flip around or move too much without knocking something over. The airship was too high for Robbie. Any time Sportacus had even been able to convince him to come up, Robbie had been too tense the whole time to properly relax. He had always demanded that Sportacus just land the thing but—

_“It’s an AIR ship. It’s meant to be in the air.”_

_“If it wasn’t meant to land it wouldn’t have LANDING GEAR, SPORTASTUBBORN!”_

_“I need to be able to see the whole town. I need to protect everyone!”_

_“You can’t even take a break from being a hero for an hour? For ME?”_

— Sportacus had objected strongly. Most of their time together was spent in town, either with the kids or just taking walks. It was hard to find a place they both enjoyed where they could be alone.

“And your first idea was ‘igloo’?”

“Not my first idea but I thought it was the best one. The kids promised to leave us alone while we’re in here and we get to enjoy some fresh air.” A pang of unease coursed through him, “Unless, are you too cold? Was this not a good idea? We can leave if you—”

“No no! It’s great! Just,” Robbie seemed to scan him up and down, “You’re… okay being in here?”

It took a beat for Sportacus to realize what Robbie meant. When it hit him, he felt something warm settle in his chest, completely separate from the hot beverage, “Oh! Yes, I’m fine in here. It’s plenty big and I had them leave that gap in the ceiling so we’re not completely surrounded. It helps that we’re not _really_ stuck. We can leave when we want. We don’t have to, say, _wait_ for someone to come by and pull a lever—”

“ _Okay_ you made your point.” The taller man scowled but the effect was countered by him leaning his head on Sportacus’ shoulder. With a cheeky grin, Sportacus wrapped an arm around Robbie. He always felt so loved when Robbie showed concern like that. Sportacus wasn’t used to being taken care of. It was nice to have someone _he_ could depend on.

“If you need me to move so you can jog in a circle of something just let me know,” Robbie said, “I’m not even sure how you’ve been able to stay still _this_ long.”

It was a mark of how used to each other they’d become that there wasn’t even a hint of mockery in Robbie voice. Sportacus again felt himself smile at his thoughtfulness.

“Actually, it turns out making igloos is exhausting work. Especially when you follow it up with pushups and squats. I’m pretty tired.”

“Never thought I’d see the day.” Robbie took a sip from his thermos, “How did you all make such a strong igloo? I love you but your crafting skills are _atrocious_.”

“The kids did most of the planning. I just put snow where they told me to.” He kissed the top of Robbie’s head, “But thank for the confidence.”

“Well you can’t be good at everything. That’s why I’m here.”

Sportacus snorted but didn’t answer. Instead he drank from his thermos and enjoyed his snuggle time with Robbie. They talked about a few things: what Robbie was working on, the big day of sledding the kids had planned for tomorrow, “What are you talking about, I’m definitely a better kisser than you”, “Prove it”, and a few other topics.

Finally, Robbie capped his thermos and put it down, “It probably goes against everything you hold dear but you have to make this hot chocolate again.”

Finishing his own drink, Sportacus sighed, “Well if you insist.” He was starting to get jittery. They had been in here for nearly an hour. As nice as it was to spent quiet time with Robbie, he couldn’t remember then last time he had sat this long. In such a small place.

He took a deep breath, _It’s not small_ , he reminded himself, _and you can leave whenever you like. Like now, in fact. Let’s leave now._

* * *

 

It was plain to see just how pent up Sportacus was. Robbie caught one look at his face as he put down the thermos and sat up, “Let’s leave.”

Sportacus turn to look at him, alarmed, “What?”

“You need to do a back flip or whatever and I need to unfreeze my butt.” He stood up and offered a hand to Sportacus, “Let’s go.”

A look of disappointment crossed the elf’s face, “I- I’m sorry Robbie.”

“It’s fine.”

“No it’s _not_ ,” He took the hand and stood up, “I should be able to sit and relax. Resting is good for you. Why can’t I do it?”

“Oh I don’t know, maybe because you’re a sports elf? It’s against your nature? Do you really need me to tell you this?”

Sportacus wasn’t looking at him, which annoyed Robbie. He was staring down at his boots, “Still. I’m sorry.”

They were still holding hands and Robbie now rubbed his thumb against Sportacus’ palm in what he hoped was a reassuring way. “If it really bothered me,” he said quietly, “we wouldn’t be celebrating our _6 month anniversary_.”

Blue eyes met his, finally, and Sportacus said, “You’re sure?”

“Fuck yeah.”

_There_ was the laugh Robbie loved. Best sound in the world. Sportacus leaned up and kissed him, smiling against his mouth.

They collected their thermoses and Sportacus led the way out of the igloo, breaking down the snow wall that blocked the exit. As soon as they were out, Sportacus did a few back flips. Robbie marveled at his ability to keep balance even in the snow. He shook his head and jogged after the jumpy blue blur, idly wondering what he could do for their one year anniversary that could top this.

“Careful not to break your neck. If I have to deal with these kids all by myself I’ll never— _get away from me with those freezing hands of yours!_ ”

**Author's Note:**

> As always, please please please alert me to any spelling or grammar mistakes.


End file.
